June 7 - 13, 2018
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Chuckanut Bay Foods breaks ground Health and Wellness on Blaine production facility, page 5 special section, page 8
IN THIS
ISSUE
City council On your mark, get set, go! agrees – election procedures should stay the same B y S t e fa n i e D o n a h u e
(See Election, page 3)
s For the ninth year in a row, locals witnessed slugs take part in a gripping race to the finish line. During ‘Slug Races,’ participants could race their own slug or choose one from event organizers. The event took place on June 2 and marked the opening day of the Blaine Gardener’s Market. The market is now open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the H Street plaza through October. Photo by Louise Mugar
First of three Birch Bay library design meetings scheduled By Oliver Lazenby Have ideas for the future Birch Bay library? The Whatcom County Library System (WCLS) is hosting the first of three input meetings next week with its design architect for the project, Zervas Architects. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 11, at the BP Heron Center, 7290 Birch Bay Drive, at the north end of Birch Bay State Park. Parking for the meeting is
free – no Discover Pass required. “These meetings will give the community the opportunity to shape the library’s design and function,” said Whatcom County Library System’s public services manager Michael Cox, in a press release. “We’re eager to hear how Birch Bay residents envision their library.” WCLS purchased the property for the future library for $675,000 in April 2017. The property is at 7968 Birch Bay Drive
Public can weigh-in as city narrows search for a police chief During a public reception, from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 7 at Blaine City Hall, three candidates vying to serve as chief of the Blaine Police Department will briefly speak and take questions. The candidates will have about 15 minutes to introduce themselves, said city manager Dave Wilbrecht. Later, the public can converse with the candidates and ask them questions. The next day, the candidates will tour the city and undergo a series of panel interviews, he said. The department is currently overseen by
interim chief, Michael Knapp. He took the position after Mike Haslip retired in October 2017 after more than 40 years on the job. The Prothman Company, a consulting firm based in Issaquah that specializes in executive recruitment, is leading the search for the city’s next police chief. The next police chief will oversee a population of approximately 5,000 residents and a multi-million-dollar budget, which in 2018 was $2.4 million. In March 2018, the police department was comprised of 12 officers as well as
two full-time staff members and one part-time staff member in the records keeping division. According to a third-party assessment produced through the Loaned Executive Management Assistance Program (LEMAP) in March 2018, the police department needs to update its organizational policies, provide comprehensive training for personnel and improve supervision of all policies and training. Blaine city hall is located at 435 Martin Street, suite 3000.
and includes a 2,135-square-foot house and two outbuildings; the library will likely include some combination of the buildings on site. Last December, WCLS convened the Birch Bay Library Design Committee with representatives from the community, Friends of the Birch Bay Library group, and WCLS staff and trustees. (See Library, page 3)
INSIDE
The chances of Blaine City Council adopting ward-only voting procedures are slim. After listening to a presentation about the state voting rights act by city attorney Jon Sitkin on May 29, the council voted 6-0 absent councilmember Meg Olson to take no action on a proposal to change voting procedures to allow city council candidates to be elected exclusively by voters in their ward. State legislators passed the voting rights act during the 2018 session. It goes into effect on Thursday, June 7 and aims to provide equal opportunity for racial and other minority groups to participate in elections. “Your legislature intends to allow a process for local governments who have the ward-based primary with the general population voting at the general election to modify their system to avoid the deleterious effects that could result, or effects of polarized voting, or biased systems that are discriminatory on the race, color, language protected classes,” Sitkin said to the council. “I want to say that I’ve not seen or been aware of any kind of allegation that the city of Blaine has any voting system that violates or infringes on the rights of a protected class, race, color, language.” Blaine is split into three wards, which are each represented by two councilmembers; one additional councilmember is elected at-large. Current election procedures require a preliminary, ward-only election in which candidates run in one of the three wards. The two candidates to receive the most votes move on to the general election, which is open to all city voters. Changing the city’s voting procedures has stirred some debate between residents – with some saying ward-only voting encourages councilmembers to act only in the interest of their ward, as opposed to the city as a whole, and others saying the current system poorly represents all voters. Dennis Olason, a longtime advocate of ward-only voting and former city councilmember, said his primary concern is vote dilution, which occurs when voting
Letter . . . . . . . . . . 4 Classifieds . . . . . 14 Coming Up . . . . . 17 Police . . . . . . . . . 17 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 17
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